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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536553">Aftermath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pelican_writes/pseuds/Pelican_writes'>Pelican_writes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Chatting &amp; Messaging, F/F, F/M, M/M, Virtual Reality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:07:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pelican_writes/pseuds/Pelican_writes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shuichi wakes up after the killing game simulation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akamatsu Kaede/Chabashira Tenko, Amami Rantaro/Shinguji Korekiyo, Gokuhara Gonta/Hoshi Ryoma, Harukawa Maki/Yumeno Himiko, Iruma Miu/Tojo Kirumi, K1-B0/Saihara Shuichi, Momota Kaito/Oma Kokichi, Shirogane Tsumugi/Yonaga Angie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Awoken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shuichi wakes up.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dark.</p><p>Dark.</p><p>Why is it dark?</p><p>Am I..</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dead?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>No..</p><p>That can't be right.</p><p>I hear something.</p><p>Can you hear as a ghost?</p><p>N-No.. That's stupid.</p><p>I'm no ghost..</p><p>Am I?</p><p>No. I can feel something weighing on me. </p><p>
  <em>Like the press.</em>
</p><p>No.</p><p>The game is over.</p><p>I ended it.</p><p>I don't have to think about him anymore. </p><p>..</p><p>I should've trusted him.</p><p>No time for that.</p><p>...</p><p>Where am I? </p><p>That's the kind of thing you ask when you are lost, right?</p><p>I'm a detective. I should be able to figure out what's going on.</p><p>
  <em>Truth Bullet 1: Cold</em>
</p><p>It's freezing.</p><p>
  <em>Like the locker.</em>
</p><p>No!</p><p>This is no locker.</p><p>This is.. Something else.</p><p>Great Shuichi. </p><p>You're the detective who sent your friends to painful deaths, and you can't even tell where you are. </p><p>What an incredible detective.</p><p>
  <em>Truth Bullet 2: My legs</em>
</p><p>My legs are under some sheet. </p><p>I can kick them.</p><p>I think.</p><p>..</p><p>I'm too tired to move..</p><p>
  <em>Truth Bullet 3: Time</em>
</p><p>I can feel an imprint of my body beneath me. </p><p>I've been here for a while.</p><p>Wait.. That can't be right.</p><p>I just escaped the killing game.</p><p>I.. Escaped!</p><p>It finally is sinking in. </p><p>I'm living.</p><p>I'm lying down.</p><p>So..</p><p>Why can't I see?</p><p>
  <em>Conclusion: I'm outside of the dome, likely with something covering my eyes.</em>
</p><p>My eyes. </p><p>They're open..?</p><p>Yes.</p><p>They're open you dumbass.</p><p>I hear a faint buzzing around me.</p><p>I hear!</p><p>I can hear.</p><p>Good to know.</p><p>I'd take whatever is covering my eyes off if my arms didn't feel like jello.</p><p>..</p><p>What now?</p><p>I can barely breathe.</p><p>..</p><p>The word help comes to mind.</p><p>
  <em>Help..?</em>
</p><p>Maybe somebody is here.</p><p>Maybe someone will help me.</p><p>It's a stretch, but it is all I have.</p><p>"..Help!" I exclaim.</p><p>Or I try to exclaim.</p><p>"..mmrenghlp.." I mumble in reality. </p><p>Nice one, Shuichi.</p><p>Can't even ask for help right.</p><p> </p><p>..</p><p> </p><p>..</p><p> </p><p>..</p><p> </p><p>Nobody is here.</p><p>No, somebody has to be here.</p><p>They have to be.</p><p>But..</p><p>What if they are the person who trapped me?</p><p>What if danganronpa is truly over?</p><p>WHAT IF I'M GOING TO DIE LIKE THE REST OF THEM?</p><p>I hope so.</p><p>I hope I die.</p><p>Maybe I should just stop breathing, then they can't make me kill any other people.</p><p>Then I can't reveal half my classmates to be murderers, and sentence them to a cruel punishment.</p><p>THEN I CAN'T BE SUCH A MONSTER.</p><p>THEN I CAN'T-</p><p>"A-Ah! Y-You're awake!"</p><p>My breath froze.</p><p>"I-I'm sorry! I-I-I'll help you get this o-off!" A voice said near me.</p><p>"Who a-are you?!" I tried to ask, it coming out as more of a mumble.</p><p>"I-I know that y-you probably have a lot of questions.. b-but I c-can't help you with any of them yet." The voice responded.</p><p>I noticed that I was still holding my breath, so I gently tried to breath out. It came out as more of a harsh wheeze than an exhale. I tried again to move my legs again, but they felt like they were as heavy as a million boulders. I couldn't get my body to move.</p><p>Light.</p><p>I tried to adjust my eyes to the sudden brightness. I seemed to be in some kind of.. Hospital room. There are some weird pipes around me, and the room was illuminated by a harsh, white light. A girl with messy purple hair stood next to me, holding some medicine.</p><p>"Where.. Where am I?" I demanded, trying to sit up and pitifully failing.</p><p>"Y-You're in a future foundation h-hospital.." The purple haired nurse responded.</p><p>"What is going on.." I said to nobody in particular.</p><p>"I-It'll all be explained s-soon.. My name is Tsumiki Mikan, b-but you can call me Mikan. I-I-I'm your n-nurse." Mikan said as she propped me up my pillow. "Here, have some water." </p><p>"A-Ah, I-I'm okay.." I responded, placing the cup she handed me on the table besides me.</p><p>"S-Somebody will b-be in here soon to answer all your questions. F-For now, j-j-just sip on your water and rest. Y-You're safe here." Mikan reassured me. </p><p>"O-Okay.." I said as I shut my eyes, too tired to care if I was truly safe or not.</p><p>The world faded off into black as I drifted off to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey, I have literally no clue where I'm going with this but I want to get this out of my drafts so.. Here ya go!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fragile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't remember much of the next few days. I don't remember much of anything, really. All I know is that I'm sitting in a bed. I'm not comfortable. My body (Is that my body?) is frail. My mind is numb. And I'm sitting here on the bed. I've given the bed a name. I can't quite remember it right now. I see the purple-haired girl talking to me worriedly. I can't hear her right now. I'd rather not listen, anyway.</p><p>The purple-haired girl.. Mikan, was it? Said that people would be here to answer my questions, but they didn't show. Some technicality, she said. That's when I started to go numb. Some sleepy fluid was next to me. It couldn't be called that, but all I know is it makes me feel better and makes me tired. Or maybe I'm already tired? I'm not sure.</p><p>Sometimes others come into the room. It's so bright in the room. The room has an awful buzzing that makes my ears ring and makes me feel like I'm about to explode. Sometimes the raven-haired boy comes in holding a clipboard. He doesn't get a name yet. I don't think I heard his name anyway. He asks me questions. How I'm doing. Can I hear him. If I want him to leave. I can't seem to answer.</p><p>Often times Mikan comes in and makes me sip on some water. She's concerned that I'm getting worse, I think. I still can't respond. My mouth is too dry.</p><p>I'm past the point of self-loathing. I'm too tired to hate myself. That'll come later. Mikan tells me I need to drink more water. I don't know how to tell her that I don't want to. I don't know why she wants me to drink the water. It hurts. It hurts. </p><p>It hurts.</p><p>It hurts.</p><p>They say to breathe when I get like this.</p><p>How do I breathe again? Like.. this?</p><p>That feels better.</p><p>-</p><p>A few days later, I remember that I'm supposed to be alive. It's a shocking revelation.</p><p>-</p><p>I think it's Thursday, or so Mikan says. She says I'm doing better. The water doesn't hurt as much anymore. I can speak again, but I don't know what to say. </p><p>-</p><p>They say it's time to talk. I disagree.</p><p>-</p><p>My cheeks feel wet. Why? </p><p>-</p><p>I think I'm in purgatory. The same days of telling me that I'll be better. I have a faint feeling that I was already better, but then I remember passing out. Maybe I've been through all this before..</p><p>-</p><p>It's Saturday when I start to talk again. It takes a few tries.</p><p>"Mmphhh..."</p><p>"What's that? D-Do you need something?"</p><p>"Meemphh..."</p><p>"Wh-What's wrong?"</p><p>"Mmm... Mikan."</p><p>"Wh-What?"</p><p>I know her name's Mikan. I thought she'd understand. I thought she'd be proud.</p><p>I drift back asleep.</p><p>-</p><p>It's Thursday again when I finally start to significantly improve. </p><p>"How.. How long have I been here?" I ask.</p><p>Mikan and Raven-hair look shocked.</p><p>"How are you feeling? Can you talk again?" Raven-hair asks. </p><p>"You've been here for two weeks, Shuichi." Mikan says after Raven-hair.</p><p><em>Shuichi</em>.</p><p>That's my name. </p><p>I try it out in my head a few times for size.</p><p><em>Shuichi Shuichi Shuichi</em>.</p><p>It fits.</p><p>"Talk..? Am I.. Talking?"</p><p>"Yes.. You are. Take your time. I know how you feel right now. I've been in the same position." Raven-hair responds.</p><p>Same position? I almost laugh. How could he have been?</p><p>"Tired.."</p><p>"Y-You can sleep if you want, but Hajime is here to answer any of your questions." Mikan says.</p><p>"Hajime..? That's your name?" I ask raven-hair/Hajime.</p><p>"Spot on. I'm here to help you along and to be your therapist. If you're tired, by all means, do go to sleep, however, if you want any questions answered, I'm here."</p><p>Questions? I think I could think of a few.</p><p>"Wh-Where am I?" I decided to start with.</p><p>"You're at the future foundation hospital. We're here to help you."</p><p>"Future foundation..? What's that?" I distantly ask.</p><p>"Were an organization dedicated to helping keep world order and bring down terrorist organizations such as Danganronpa.</p><p>
  <em>Danganronpa.</em>
</p><p>That word sends a chill a deeper chill down my spine than anything I've ever felt before.</p><p>"D-D-Danganronpa?! I-Is there another k-killing..." I couldn't even finish my sentence because of how much I was shaking. </p><p>"No. We've finally managed to catch Danganronpa, and it's thanks to you."</p><p>"What..?"</p><p>"I'll start from the beginning. Danganronpa is a terror organization that organizes killing games for their deranged audience of criminals. There had been two killing games before yours, the second of which I was in. Luckily, they made a fatal flaw in your killing game. They told you about Danganronpa. They told you everything, with some bluffing and lies involved, of course. This, along with the information you extracted out of Team Danganronpa, helped us find and indict Danganronpa and all those who watched it."</p><p>"B-But.. Didn't I audition.." I winced while saying those words. I still don't know whether I believe them myself. </p><p>"No. That was a lie, a very cruel one at that. all of that was doctored, just a member of team Danganronpa posing as you. There was no global audience or 53 seasons. It was all a despair-inducing trick."</p><p>"..."</p><p>"It's just like how Tsumugi was kidnapped along with the rest of you and brainwashed into the role of the mastermind. Korekiyo was never a serial killer, rather the writers took advantage of his past abuse from his sister and made it into something that he enjoyed for a sick purpose of 'entertainment'. They took Tenko's past abuse and made it into a one-liner. They took your trauma and tried to force you to grow out of it. It makes me sick."</p><p>I didn't know what to say. What could I say to that?</p><p>"I'm sorry for unloading all of this on you at once. Maybe it's too much, but I think that you have a right to know." Hajime responds, uncomfortable at my silence.</p><p>All of a sudden, an image of Harukawa-san and Yumeno-san fleets into my head. </p><p>"W-Wait! Hold on! What happened to Harukawa-san and Yumeno-san?!" I yell, surprising myself at my own volume.</p><p>"They're alive as well. They're both in a similar state to yours."</p><p>"Thank god..."</p><p>"But that's not all. The killing game.. All three of them, in fact, were done in Virtual Reality."</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>"I know this will be shocking news, but I think you're ready to hear it. Your friends.. They're all alive."</p><p>"WHAT?!?"</p><p>"They're all currently recovering."</p><p>Was I hearing things? Was I just making up a scenario where I wasn't a god-awful person? I don't think I can tell.</p><p>"I... I... I-I-I should head b-back to sleep." I mumble, looking toward Mikan and Hajime for approval.</p><p>I can't see their reactions in time. My eyelids fall shut too fast, and I drift off to sleep, eyes open, and brain swarming to make sense of my life.</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>It begins in a dark void of nothingness. So dark, that it takes me a moment to even see the funhouse lights flicker on. There stands the ringmaster, faceless and nameless, holding out hanging marionettes. Nothing else is around me. At least, until I see the blood-pink car that I'm riding in. I realize that the funhouse is getting closer. When the car grinds to a halt, I fly forward. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wh-What's going on?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I regain my vision and see that I'm now on stage. I look around and see nothing but sickening lights and fake smiles. That is until I see the car. I'm no longer in it. Rather, the ringmaster sits, watching, smiling. They have no face. Only a smile. I look at my hands and realize that I'm not holding the marionette. It takes a moment to register who's hanging on the other end of the strings.
</em></p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kaede.
</em></p><p>
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  <em>Untie the ropes, damnit!
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  <em>It's no use. I watch as she strangles and her blood spills all over me.</em>
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  <em>I feel heavy. Exhausted. The blood feels light, however. It boils. It sears my skin.</em>
</p><p>
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  <em>You killed her again, Saihara. You IDIOT. </em>
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  <em>I'm so lost that I almost miss Kirumi struggling to free herself from the rope. As my adrenaline courses through my veins, I hastily untie the string that she was hanging from. It hurt. My hands feel burned by the rope. I'm so relieved that I don't see her fall to her death. All I feel is her boiling blood staining my clothes.</em></p><p>
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</p><p><em>The marionette feels heavy once again. This time, I see Korekiyo. In a way, I don't want to save him. I know that he isn't who he was in the game, but some deep part of my mind is hesitant. Nevertheless, I untie the knot and reach out to catch him. I feel him land in my palm but watch in anguish as he boils in the blood on my hands. The rope burn from trying to save Kirumi had bloodied my hands, but with Korekiyo's blood in the mixture, they're completely soaked.</em> </p><p>
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</p><p><em>I'm expecting what comes next this time. Maybe if I save him, it can be some kind of repentance.</em> </p><p>
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  <em>I'm already untieing the knot that Gonta hangs from when he appears. I untie with such desperation to the point where I'm not even sure if I'm in control of my hands anymore. I clean off some of the blood on me and catch him in time. I put down the marionette, shaking and sobbing as I reach out to hug him. But he doesn't hug back. Instead, he flashes a wicked smile at me as he stabs himself with the marionette handle. I sink to my knees. Of course he wouldn't forgive me. Why should he? I killed him. I killed him. I killed h-</em>
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  <em>I barely register the fact that I've sunk to my knees in misery.</em>
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  <em>True despair.</em>
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  <em>I remember that I have to save Kaito. As I start to try and save him, he yells at me to stop. He knows what his death by my hands would do to me if I had to do it again. He wants to save me the despair. Forgiveness. </em>
</p><p>
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  <em>It hurts so much more.</em>
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  <em>I don't even pretend to try and save Tsumugi. She ends up getting crushed by some object I didn't see before. I don't care.</em>
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  <em>All of a sudden, I'm no longer on my knees. I'm no longer on the stage. I'm back in the blood-pink car. And it's driving forwards. I notice that the ringmaster is mimicking me. </em>
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  <em>I'm shocked to feel the pure pain around my throat when I'm at the end of the marionette strings. The ringmaster grins above as I let out my last breath. </em>
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  <em>I'm not surprised.</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My take on a VR au. No promises on scheduling nor on quality, but I'll do my best!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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